Amsterdam

We don't have much to show for our nearly five days in Amsterdam. We were there principally to put the Grey Wanderer in storage before our return to the States, to get it ready for storage, effect a variety of repairs, give it a good cleaning, and to sort through things and pack, with one eye on the coming year in California and the other on returning to Europe in 2012. Three days of sheets of rain didn't help with our sightseeing program either.

We'll do Amsterdam more properly, especially the Rijksmuseum, one of our favorites, when we're back in June of 2012. We EasyJet'd to Britland on Saturday afternoon, the16th, carefully weighing in both checked and unchecked baggage so as to avoid the various surcharges. It was a mercifully short 45 minute flight. From Gatwick we took the National Express bus into town (5.50L for us seniors) and then the Underground to our B&B in East Finchley, north of the city. The bus ride took 90 minutes, but was comfortable and a great opportunity to visually re-acquaint ourselves with beloved Britland, leaving the driving to someone else. Our stay here will be relatively short, with no opportunity to re-visit Beastleigh Dorking on-the-Bum or other favorite country sites.

We stayed at a place called Droompark Sparnwoude,

outside Amsterdam, beyond the port; apparently a state or

national park, there were several campgrounds, very

popular, not so many campers, but many, many static

trailers and rental units; they honored our ACSI card which

made the cost relatively reasonable; and good bus service

into the city

But our first two days were spent not in camping or cleaning,

but in having some work done: the BBQ regulator (something

we never and never have used) failed, causing a serious

propane leak; we finally had it removed and the line capped at

a Volvo truck center in Amsterdam, the third referral

And then there was the partial failure of the Go Charge

dual battery charger, which took another day to analyze,

and (partially) work around; sheesh! the thing is two months

old and probably hadn't two weeks of usage

So, anyway, we appear to be in Holland (this

is from Friday, the one day it didn't rain)

And took the bus into Amsterdam, not to see anything in

particular, but just to walk around and do the ambience thing

A major part of which is drinking in the streets

and the consequent effluence, relieved, as it

were, by these strategically but not discreetly
located outdoor pissoirs

A street scene or two

Two

Vicki in line for the world-famous "vegetarian" pommes frites

at VleminckX (since 1887); they were decadently good,

especially with the curry sauce

Eupen (Belgium)

So from Bernkastel we headed further north toward our last two goals for Germany on this trip: Aachen and Cologne. But Belgium got in the way, at least long enough for us to find another interesting camperstop. It was in the Parc Naturelle National Hautes Fagnes-Eifel Raerenwald; or somesuch. I construed it to be the Belgian Grand Canyon, with Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to boot.

The usual mixture...Belgian, Dutch, German, French, GB, Montana

The dam (from the main resort hotel, which was catering one tour bus group from 
the UK of GB; otherwise closed (in mid-July))

Grand Canyon

Lake Mead

Of interest to me was the climbing tower at the resort, also 
closed, which must surely be one of the tallest such in the 
world; seriously

The kiddie side at the bottom

Hornbach Stellplatz

We left the vineyards around Colmar and drove on north and east. Our goal in all this, as Alert Readers already know, is to get to Amsterdam and to put the Grey Wanderer in storage there while we are back in the States for Rachel's wedding and then helping out with our new granddaughter Penelope. But I digress. After a horrific traffic jam near Strasbourg and the crossing of some small mountains, we found ourselves alternating between "La Marseillaise" and "Deutchland, Deutschland, Uber Alles," somehow entertaining visions of Paul Henreid in Casablanca and Kenneth Mars in The Producers. Two of the defining movies of my life.

We thought about over-nighting in one of the Maginot Line

visitor parking lots, but they didn't really seem all that

inviting, however deserted; so we drove on, surmounting a

crest, and finding ourselves back in Germany, which we last

saw way back in maybe July of 2010, and May of 2009
before that; we visited one of the many Maginot Line sites
in 1989; or so

In the village of Hornbach, just over the border, via some good

signage, we found what turned out to be a brand new

municipal Stellplatz (German for camperstop); room for

perhaps 8 or 9 vehicles, very attractively appointed,

landscaped, and with all the amenities; 5 euros; this in a

village of 1200

It was so restful we were tempted to stay for more than the
night; plus there were close-enough-to-ripe blackberries nearby

Electricity, water, sanitary facilities, a euro

each; also direct phone to information, police

and fire

Dining facility

Cooking shelter

And the adjoining community playground was also

impressive

OK, I admit I am impressionable

Even a zip-line

Mantua

Our next stop was Mantua, primarily to meet friends/fellow travelers Kathy and Rick Howe, but also to see the Ducal Palace there and the works of Mantegna. We found Kathy and Rick at the appointed camperstop, by the Lake Inferioure. A heat-wave was underway, temps in the mid-90s, with Alaska-style mosquitoes swarming outside. So we stayed inside, testing the limits of our AC, and tasting a variety of wines and cheeses. Next morning Kathy and Vicki and I did the ducal palace while Rick dealt (successfully) with their Italian internet provider.

Much of the distance from Bolzano south toward Mantua is a great valley--
a gorge I would call it, with high walls on either side, but a mile or more wide 
in most places--very heavily planted in grapes, very big-time Italian wine 
country; anyhow, above is one of several castles along the route, this one 
perched high atop a huge pinnacle

Wine in capsules; Bardolino, Valpolicella, Lambrusco...

Not the great stuff, but we had to stop anyway at a place called appropriately Dulce, 
to pick up a few souvenirs

In the ducal palace, Pisanello's unfinished Arthurian frescoes

Ditto

Mantegna's portrait of the Gonzaga family; note obligatory dwarf

Remains of an intriguing Mantegna allegory

The trompe l'oeil oculus is one of the earliest, and certainly the first to show the 
putti and others looking down from the heavens

Next we strolled Mantua's weekly market, in its three connected central piazzas, 
certainly one of the largest we have seen in Italy

Rick and Kathy and a very, very rare shot: side-by-side American campers in Europe!

And us

Alpe di Siusi

We drove on, through Castelrosso, to Alpe di Siusi, one of the Dolomites' major summer and winter playgrounds. Alpe di Siusi is featured as Europe's largest alpine meadow. This I very much doubt: Alpe di Siusi is covered with deep ravines, hills, etc. Meadows are supposed to be sort of flat. Whatever. It is a beautiful place, with hiking trails everywhere and cable-car access to the higher elevations. When we found out the major cable-car company allowed over-night parking in its lot, we decided to stay 2 nights.

Sights along the way, a train station turned hotel

By no means our first cable-car campsite

Vicki on the ride up to Alpe di Siusi

The Sassa Lunga group, which I will explore the next day;

note wildflowers

Panning around, mountains everywhere

Time for some apple strudel at the Almrosen Hut

As the cows look on

Mountain azaleas abloom

Thus; best showing of them I have seen

More wildflowers

Perfect U-shaped canyon; there are no glaciers left in the

Dolomites; but there used to be...

CamperStop Florence

After our 4th day in Florence, the Tuscan sun disappeared behind storm clouds and there were violent thunderstorms morning, afternoon and evening for two days. We wondered how far above the river our camperstop might be. As I said, it was in a near suburb, Poggeto, I think, about 3 km from the city center. Still quite urban. Anyhow, with the bad weather, we decided to take a couple days off.

CamperStop FLOG; actually, it was a large parking area

serving a big community center among the scores of

apartment blocks; a Coop a couple streets away for groceries

and the usual assortment of shops all around; from my now

vast experience in such neighborhoods, I estimate that every

street has at least one tabachi, one alimentaria, 3 bar/cafes,

one trattoria, one dry-goods/hardware store (maybe 200

square feet, crammed wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling), a

pet store, 3 snack bars, and 6 pasticerrias; amazingly, one

never sees a pastry shop without customers (nor a bar); yet

seldom sees a seriously over-weight Italian

One evening, during a lull between thunderstorms, I noticed

considerable commotion in the car parking area, and followed

the crowds to the community center, which was jammed

For a dance recital

I have no idea whether it was a school event, a neighborhood

thing, someone's private dance school recital

But there were people of all ages there

It's a very family-centered society